Pregnant women can still get COVID-19 vaccines, even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped recommending the shots during pregnancy, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told members of Congress on June 24.
“We’re not depriving anybody of choice. If a pregnant woman wants the COVID-19 vaccine, she can get it,” Kennedy said. “[We are] no longer recommending it because there was no science supporting that recommendation.”
Kennedy announced on May 27 that the CDC would stop recommending the COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women, a change after years of the agency advising vaccination during pregnancy. The updated adult immunization schedule does not contain a recommendation for pregnant women to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, although all other adults are advised to take one.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told The Epoch Times in an email that health agencies “encourage individuals to talk with their healthcare provider about any personal medical decision.”
Kennedy said on Tuesday that multiple studies have identified adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination, including miscarriage.
A preprint paper recently released online concluded that in Israel, women who were vaccinated early in their pregnancy experienced more fetal losses than expected. The paper’s authors include Retsef Levi, a professor who Kennedy has named to the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel.
“There’s no safety data for it, so we’re not going to recommend it to people when we don’t have safety data,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy was answering Rep. Robin Kelly (D-N.Y.), who had entered into the record statements by some medical groups critical of the change.
Dr. Steven Flesichman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), for instance, said in a statement that the organization was “concerned about and extremely disappointed” by the development. He added later that “the COVID-19 vaccine is safe during pregnancy, and vaccination can protect our patients and their infants after birth.”
Insurers are typically required to cover vaccines recommended by the CDC and its advisory panel.
ACOG and other groups, in a June 11 letter to insurers, called on them to continue covering COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy.
“We urge payers and insurers to embrace the opportunity to join us in working toward improved health outcomes for women and infants and to continue coverage of vaccines that is based on evidence and saves lives,” they wrote.
The letter did not list any citations for COVID-19 vaccines preventing death. Instead, they cited a 2021 paper that analyzed existing research and determined pregnant women with COVID-19 faced increased risks of admission to intensive care units and being placed on ventilators.